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12 Jun 2006 : Column 1010W—continued
Cosmetic Surgery/Laser Eye Surgery
Mark Tami:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what guidance her Department provides to private
health providers in respect of after-care treatment following (a) laser eye surgery and (b) cosmetic surgery; [75550]
(2) how many people experienced complications following (a) laser eye surgery and (b) cosmetic surgery in each of the last five years; [75551]
(3) how many individuals sought NHS treatment following complications with (a) laser eye surgery and (b) cosmetic surgery carried out by private health providers in each of the last five years; and at what estimated cost to the NHS in each year; [75552]
(4) what estimate she has made of the number of individuals having laser eye correction surgery in England on the NHS in each of the last five years. [75594]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department does not provide guidance to private health care establishments as cosmetic surgery and laser eye surgery takes place within the independent sector. However, the Private and Voluntary Healthcare Regulations 2001 and the associated national minimum standards ensure that all aspects of the treatment and services provided by cosmetic surgery and laser eye surgery providers are safe and quality assured, and establishments are inspected by the Healthcare Commission.
Providers must comply with regulations and there are national minimum standards—core standards that cover general issues that apply to all types of private care, and service specific standards that relate to the use of class 4 lasers used in laser eye surgery. These national minimum standards are published by the Secretary of State for Health under section 23 (1) of the Care Standards Act 2000. The standards refer to appropriate patient selection and specific instructions to patient relatives and community services if appropriate. Post-operative information must be provided for patients specific to each procedure undertaken in a day surgical unit.
Information about complications and patients who have sought national health service treatment following complications with cosmetic surgery or laser eye surgery is not collected by the Department.
Dentistry
Ms Diana R. Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) dentists and (b) dental practices in the East Hull and West Hull primary care trust areas have (i) signed and (ii) not signed the new NHS dental contract. [73404]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Information on the number of dentists who have signed the new contract is not available centrally. We do however have some provisional information that covers contracts. A contract may be for more than one dentist so cannot be broken down further to individual dentist level.
| Provisional management estimates in Eastern Hull primary care trust (PCT) | |
| Number/percentage | |
| Provisional management estimates in West Hull PCT | |
| Number/percentage | |
| Notes: 1. The information provided is not validated. 2. It represents a snapshot of the position in early April. | |
PCTs are working with dentists to resolve as many disputes as possible locally.
Departmental Operating Framework
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when strategic health authorities expressed support for the Department of Health’s operating framework for 2006-07. [76088]
Andy Burnham [holding answer 8 June 2006]: The Department developed the operating framework 2006-07 in close collaboration with a range of stakeholders including strategic health authorities.
Disability Equipment (Internet Sales)
Mr. Oaten:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will require the internet industry to ensure that
sales of disability equipment on the internet comply with the medical device regulations. [76791]
Andy Burnham: Any medical device placed on the United Kingdom market should be CE marked by the manufacturer in compliance with the Medical Devices Regulations 2002. Any instances of non-compliance would be investigated and resolved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency on behalf of the Secretary of State whether the device is sold over the internet or by more traditional means.
District Nurses
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many district nurse contacts there have been in each year since 1997. [74051]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The available information had been published in “NHS district nursing: summary information for 2003-04”, and is shown in the following table. In order to reduce the burden of bureaucracy on front line staff the Department stopped collecting the number of face-to-face contacts in 2000. The Department collected information on initial and first contacts until 2004.
| District nurse contacts, 1996-97 to 2003-04 | |||
| Initial contacts (new episodes of care) | First contacts (different persons receiving care) | Total face-to-face contacts | |
| Source: Department of Health, Form KC56 | |||
General Practitioner Retainer Schemes
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many individuals are on general practitioner retainer schemes. [74705]
Ms Rosie Winterton: As 30 September 2005, 642 individuals were on the general practitioner retainer scheme.
Haemophilia
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answers of 5 June to Questions 73258, 73259 and 73260, on people with haemophilia, if she will publish the Department's consideration and decision with regard to the Macfarlane Trust's submission. [76443]
Caroline Flint: There has been no further development since my last reply.
Herceptin
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will meet Shropshire Primary Care Trust to discuss the provision of Herceptin to those with early stage breast cancer in Shropshire. [74755]
Ms Rosie Winterton: It is for individual clinicians, in discussion with a patient, to decide whether or not it is suitable to prescribe a specific drug. Primary care trusts (PCTs) may need to be involved to decide whether to support the clinician's decision and supply the drug at the national health service's expense. PCTs need to take a range of factors into account, including local factors, when considering the funding of drugs and other treatments.
The Department is aware that Shropshire county PCT has recently revised its policy on individual patient requests for drugs and is currently reviewing the cases of women who have recently been refused funding for Herceptin in line with this. This is a matter for the local health community and the Secretary of State has no plans to meet the PCT to discuss it.
Kidney Dialysis
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospitals in (a) London and (b) England provide kidney dialysis treatment. [73553]
Ms Rosie Winterton: According to figures held by the United Kingdom Renal Registry, there are 54 adult renal units in England, of which eight are in London, and 10 paediatric renal units in England, of which two are in London.
The vast majority of adult units will have satellite dialysis facilities attached to them enabling many patients to dialyse closer to home and minimise travel times. These are looked after by consultants based at a main adult renal unit. Some, although not all, of these are based at hospitals. However, figures for these are not collected centrally.
Medical and Dental Education Levy
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of whether the Medical and Dental Education Levy and multi-professional education and training funding will be sufficient to allow all postgraduate deaneries to fulfil their obligation to provide full study leave funding without consequent reductions in posts or other areas of activity. [73843]
Ms Rosie Winterton:
Allocations to strategic health authorities, which will include money for education and training, will be issued shortly. It is for strategic health authorities, working closely with their
postgraduate deaneries, to determine exactly how their budgets will be used to meet local needs, priorities and contractual commitments.
Medical Centre (Festival Park, North Staffordshire)
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations she has received concerning the decision not to proceed with the proposed out-of-hours medical centre at Festival Park, North Staffordshire; what costs the NHS incurred in relation to the plans; and whether a procedure for not proceeding was included in the contract with Prima 200 Ltd. [75021]
Ms Rosie Winterton: To date the Department has received one letter about the decision not to proceed with the proposed out-of-hours medical centre at Festival Park.
It is for the local health community to determine how best to use their funds to meet national and local priorities for improving health, tackling health inequalities and modernising services.
The Shropshire and Staffordshire Strategic Health Authority (SHA) reports that the national health service has incurred abortive costs of £650,000 in the financial year 2005-06 for the out-of-hours scheme.
The SHA also reports that the strategic partnering agreement with Prima 200 Limited (Ltd) includes clauses on what happens if a project does not go ahead. Negotiations with Prima 200 Ltd took place within the terms of this agreement.
Mental Health
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will bring forward amendments to the Mental Health Act 1983 aimed at strengthening protection against possible racial bias in the way the Act operates. [73389]
Ms Rosie Winterton: We are currently undertaking a race equality impact assessment on the proposed amendments to the Mental Health Act 1983. We will consider what action may be required in light of any findings from the assessment.
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the mental health establishments visited by her and her ministerial team since 1 May 2005; and what the date was of the visit in each case. [69387]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Secretary of State and her ministerial team have visited a total of 12 mental health establishments since 1 May; details and dates as follows:
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